A force field was generated as the attack that was aimed at the ship was deflected in that instant as Captain Fervier flew in the air with his hands raised providing support to block the attack.
As the water cleared, stood a gigantic serpent-like creature towering over 15 meters tall, having the face of a dragon, bat-like wings on the side of his face, long-sharp fangs that reached its neck region, having blue scales protecting his entire body as it stood tall glaring at the ship with its piercing fiery red eyes.
Its presence exuded an aura of terror and dominance, instilling a sense of dread to whoever looked at it.
Artis looked in dread as recognized what this creature was, he read about this creature in Central Library once.
Sea Monster Levaigon!
A mighty creature found only in the most harshest and treacherous parts of the oceans, far from the sight of land that only knows how to strike fear to the bravest of the sailors who manage to encounter it.
Those who have glimpsed Sea Monster Levaigon speak of its ferocity and cunning, of its ability to summon mighty storms and unleash devastating tidal waves upon unsuspecting ships. They tell of its insatiable hunger for destruction and chaos, and of the terror it instills in all who dare to cross its path.
Artis's first instinct to see this monster was to run. Obviously, he knew it was a death sentence if he fought with this beast! He was still a weakling!
'But what is this Beast doing here? This is Sonia Sea, not a damn ocean! This thing shouldn't even be here!'
Captain Fervier looked in shock as he also recognized who this ferocious beast was, "Shiver me timbers! I wasn't expecting this bad girl to show up in this calm waters."
He looked at his crewmates as he ordered, "LADS! This is an opportunity!"
The crew who were undazed, trembling, and in despair seeing the beast charging for an attack, for a moment immediately stopped shivering hearing their Captain's loud, confident, and booming voice as they looked up at the source of the voice.
"An opportunity to use whatever you learned! Do not be afraid of this monster! This creature dared to ruin our morning training! Let's go show this creature what St. Annie's crew is really made of!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!!!"
Instead of feeling despair in front of this monster, they felt motivated to fight side by side with their captain.
The crew members took position and created a shield that only covered them as it protected the ship.
A few crew members went up the cruise ship carrying a rifle on their back as they took position and aimed at the creature.
Captain Fervier looked at the Sea Monster Levaigon who continued to release an indomitable aura as he continued to smile confidently.
"Artis!" He shouted, "Watch this! Analyze, study, or do whatever you scholars or Magicians do! This is how you really fight!"
As Captain finished saying his words, a mesmerizing and dominating aura covered him as he pulled out a ring from his pocket and wore it on his forefinger.
Just as he wore the ring, his expression which was full of confidence and excitement, changed into madness and insanity as he blatantly charged ahead not caring about his own safety. Laughing like a maniac.
Artis couldn't fathom why Captain had a sudden change of personality but he heard the other crewmates launching their own attacks and the snipers shooting the ferocious beast as the beast started to cry in pain.
'Is the ring that Captain is wearing...a Spirit Item? And those are the negative effects of the said item?'
The Levaigon cried in pain from the assault as he charged up another attack aimed at Captain as he turned around to smack its tail towards him.
The ocean waves rose up as they hit the Captain, but to Artis's surprise, that attack did not faze the Captain as he continued to charge ahead, but this time his right hand charged up an electric energy ball.
Momentarily recharging from that initial attack, Leviagon, distracted for a moment, was hit by that energy ball, and a torrent of electricity charged within it electrocuting it in the process.
Leviagon cried in pain as, from its mouth, a huge blast of water came from it attacking and hitting every direction it could, rocking the cruise ship a little.
"Tch! This beast is durable as hell! Well, not like I expected to be a walk in the park!"
As Captain laughed it out, he flew up higher again distracting Leviagon again as he was hit by a barrage of energy beams in that very instant causing him to lose balance and fall down.
At that very moment, The Captain's right fist started to be enveloped by a white light as he jumped up in the sky to gain some momentum and started charging at Leviagon again.
Leviagon, not able to recover quickly from that assault, shook his head as Captain's right fist instantly connected to its face!
Aerial Ace!
A critical hit to Leviagon, as it momentarily lost focus, and Captain, seizing the opportunity landed a barrage of punches to Leviagon for the final attack, both of his fists were enveloped in white light again, as he used his right fist, to attack Leviagon's fang.
He spun around, to gain momentum, and used his left fist, that was that had the ring on to launch the final attack on his face.
Both the punch connected and The Leviagon was down with the Captain standing on top of the beast he just slayed triumphantly.
The crew instantly cheered for the Captain as Artis watched in awe, feeling a sense of relief and pride in witnessing Captain Fervier's incredible display of courage and skill.
'So, that's the power of Captain Fervier. He managed to defeat this beast so easily! No wonder Alice admired the Captain so much! He's a monster himself!'
As the creature lay defeated beneath him, Captain Fervier stood victorious, his fists still crackling with energy as he surveyed the scene triumphantly. The crew erupted into cheers and applause, their admiration for their captain evident in their celebration.
"All those present here will be given one single Scale of Leviagon, while I'll be taking its fangs! Anybody got a complaint with that!?"
"NOT AT ALL CAPT'N!!!" roared the crew.
Artis couldn't help but admire Captain Fervier and his strength at this very moment, as he dragged this beast near his ship and landed on the cruise and a lifeboat went down to collect the scales of it. He marveled over the fact that the Captain beat this monster who was known to terrorize the ships all over the oceans!
Every person present there was given a blue shiny scale as they celebrated their victory over the beast.
The captain took a fang himself and approached Artis who was still present there.
"Here. Take this." said Captain Fervier as he presented Artis with a blue scale himself.
"Huh? But why? I didn't even do anything! All I did was watch and you guys were the one who took care of that poor Levaigon." protested Artis, refusing to accept the scale.
The Captain laughed as he replied, "But you still stood there, not running away facing that beast and did not get discouraged when we faced the beast. It's just a gift from me. When you reach Aurosia, find an Artisan to either make a weapon out of it or just sell it to any mart."
"Oh, uh....thank you, Captain..." said Artis as he accepted the scale.
"So now, now that that trouble is over with! Why don't we start our training now!"
Immediately, Artis lost his composure and wanted to run away from that scene, "Really now? Can't we do it tomorrow Captain?" pleaded Artis.
Captain shook his head, "You have to start now if you wanna learn Aerial Ace. So now, MOVE THAT ASS! LAD!"
Artis squeaked as he started running 50 laps around the deck and followed the training regimen set by the captain.
After 3 hours of gruesome training, with the captain watching over him, and bandages on his wrists, he somehow managed to drag himself back to his room, exhausted from today.
'Captain is rough! He only provided heat bandages for my wrists and gave me a healing pill instead of a potion! What kind of wanky training is this! And I have to do this every day until I'm here! When will we reach Aurosia, dammit!?"
As he was about to enter his room, the door opened at that moment and Artis saw an unfamiliar person in front of him.
A lady, who had the same height as Artis stood in front of him having no expression visible on her pale round face and deep green emerald eyes, as she wore a black flamboyant dress and frock with intricate silver garments and a necklace on her neck. Her long, jet-black hair cascaded down her back in waves, adding to her mysterious allure.
They made eye contact for a moment and Artis was sure the lady was flustered for a moment before she regained her expressionless composure and walked out without even saying anything.
Confused, Artis looked up the door to see if it was the correct room and went inside but the lady's flustered expression remained in his mind.
Who was she? And why did Artis feel a mixture of emotions just by making eye contact with her? Why did he feel a sudden feeling of longing and a bit of hate inside him?
Inside, he could see Alice seated in wearing her nightdress as he could see her having a tiresome expression on her face as she was thinking something
"Sis....who was that person that was just here?" Asked Artis curiously as he scratched his head
Alice, snapping out of his thoughts, looked at the front door to see Artis standing there as she smiled warmly and responded, "Oh, Artis! Where were you this morning? And why are your hands covered in tapes? Got into another fight?"
"Sis...I asked you the question first..."
Alice's expression changed to that of a state of worry as she answered, "It's nothing Artis....she's just...a really old friend of mine who just came to meet me."
"Oh? Is that so? Wow, a coincidence how you meet a friend of yours in this ship of all places. This world really is small!" said Artis as he began walking towards his bed to go to sleep.
Alice did not respond to that snarky comment, as she stared at Artis for a moment, stood up and started walking out of the room.
"I'll be in another meeting tonight! If you wake up, have your lunch and don't wait for me. I might not be able to join you today. Stay safe, Artis. Got it?"
With that, she left the room closing the door as the room hung around in silence, with a sleepy Artis, only present in the room.